1 . Becoming a real runner

I would never use the word “athletic” to describe myself. To me, athletes are people who really enjoy working out. I remember crying in middle school when I had to run a mile during gym class. I huffed and puffed as I jogged. As I grew up, I would go to the gym, but I never enjoyed working out. That, I thought, was for real runners.

In June 2017, my friend sent me an email that would forever change my attitude towards running. He was training for a 200-mile relay (接力赛) and wanted me to be on his team. I would run three legs between four and six miles each over the course of two days. Figuring that I would never again have the chance to work with some top runners, I immediately agreed, and started running outside to prepare.

That first run was hard. I purposefully avoided Central Park in order to stay away from real runners. After a few blocks, I was already winded, and ran the rest of the way home. I called my mom, choked up, to say I had no hope at all of running this relay. But she encouraged me to keep at it, so I didn't quit. I went from running four miles a week to eight within one month before my advanced training began.

I was frightened going into the first training session with the team as everyone else was super “athletic”. We ran for five miles, and I was significantly slower. However, my teammates were so supportive that I felt the runner’s high, which I had never believed existed.

One day, about two weeks into training, my ankle gave out while I was running in Central Park. I was diagnosed with a stress fracture (应力性骨折). The doctor told me to stop running for two months. It took me a while to face the fact that I was out of the race. My doctor told me that he too had once been struck down with a stress fracture, and the following year, he beat his best running time in a half-marathon. That brought me hope.

I made it through the next two months by picturing myself running again. Just yesterday, for the first time since that fateful day, I took my outdoor run with my physical therapist. I mentioned that I might run a half-marathon the next year. Now I wake up excited for the days I get to run. Maybe I am a “real runner” after all.

1. According to the article, when did the author start to feel passion for running?

A．After she got into the habit of working out.

B．After she got the courage to run outdoors on her own.

C．After she ran with some top runners and got their encouragement.

D．After she broke her ankle in training and stayed in bed for two months.

2. The underlined word in the passage refers to her doctor’s _________.

A．helpful advice.

B．immediate treatment.

C．experience in the marathon.

D．personal experience with an injury.

3. What can we infer from the article about the author?

A．She didn’t take the relay seriously.

B．She had a strict and overprotective mother.

C．She felt disappointed about withdrawing from the race.

D．She would have expected to run a half-marathon if she had won the race.

4. The author’s purpose of writing the article was to _________.

A．urge readers to exercise regularly.

B．share with readers the fun of running.

C．warn readers to be careful about running.

D．encourage readers to pursue their hobbies.

2 . Math, Taught like Football

Growing up, I thought math class was something to be endured, not enjoyed. I disliked memorizing formulas and taking tests, all for the dull goal of getting a good grade. But my problem wasn’t with math itself. In fact, I spent countless hours as a child doing logic and math puzzles on my own, and as a teenager, when a topic seemed particularly interesting, I would go to the library and read more about it.

By high school, none of my teachers questioned my mathematical talent, but none of them really encouraged it, either. No one told me that I could become a professional mathematician. What I wanted to do then was to play college football. My ambition was to get an athletic scholarship to attend a Big Ten school.

The chances of that happening were very low. In high school, I was just an above-average athlete and my high school was not a “feeder” school for college sports programs.

That didn’t stop me from dreaming, though. And it didn’t stop my coaches from encouraging me to believe I could reach my goal, and preparing and pushing me to work for it. They made video tapes of my performances and sent them to college coaches around the country. It didn’t matter that I didn’t initially attract much interest from the big schools. My coaches kept picking up the phone, and kept convincing me to try to prove myself. In the end, a Big Ten school, Pennstate, did offer me a scholarship.

A growing body of research shows that students are affected by more than just the quality of a lesson plan. They also respond to the passion of their teachers and the engagement of their peers, and they seek a sense of purpose. They benefit from specific instructions, constant feedback and a culture of earning that encourages resilience in the face of failure.

Until I got to college, I didn’t really know what mathematics was. I still thought of it as problem sets and laborious computations. Then one day, one of my professors handed me a book and suggested that I think about a particular problem. It wasn’t easy, but it was fascinating.

My professor kept giving me problems, and I kept pursuing them. Before long, he was introducing me to problems that had never been solved before and urging me to find new techniques to help crack them.

I am now a Ph. D. candidate in mathematics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and I have published several papers in mathematical journals. I still feel that childlike excitement every time I complete a proof. I wish I’d known this was possible when I was a kid.

1. Why did the writer think math class in school was “something to be endured” before entering college?

A．Because he wasn’t interested in math.

B．Because his math teachers didn’t care to push him.

C．Because he was too smart and talented for math class.

D．Because he was training hard for an athletic scholarship.

2. According to the writer, students are affected by the following things from teachers or coaches EXCEPT __________.

A．passion	B．constant feedback
C．a sense of purpose	D．specific instructions

3. We can conclude that after entering college, the writer___________.

A．was busy looking for problem sets to crack

B．began to realize what mathematics really is

C．met with laborious computations in his studies

D．studied on his own just as he was in high school

4. What does “this” in the last sentence mean?

A．Feeling the children excitement.

B．Different mathematical research.

C．Generating curiosity and creativity.

D．Being a professional mathematician.

3 . They like using the Internet. They have lots of pocket money to spend．And they spend a higher proportion of it online than the rest of us. Teenagers are just the sort of people an online seller is interested in, and the things they want to buy — games, CDs and clothing — are easily sold on the Web.

But paying online is a tricky business for consumers who are too young to own credit cards. Most have to use a parent’s card. They want a service that allows them to spend money.

That may come sooner than they think: new ways to take pocket money into cyber (网络的) space are coming out rapidly on both sides of the Atlantic. If successful, these products can stimulate (刺激)online sales.

In general, teenagers spend huge amounts: $153bn (billion) in the US last year and ￡20bn annually in the UK．Most teenagers have access to the Internet at home or at school — 88 percent in the US, 69 percent in the UK. According to the Jupiter Research, one in eight of those with Internet access has bought something online — mainly CDs and books.

In most cases, parents pay for these purchases with credit cards, an arrangement that is often unsatisfactory for them and their children. Pressing parents to spend online is less productive than pressing on the high street. They are more likely to ask “Why?” if you ask to spend some money online.

One way to help teenagers change notes and coins into cyber cash is through prepaid cards such as Internet Cash in the US and Smart cards in the UK. Similar to those for pay-as-you-go mobile telephones, they are sold in amounts such as￡20 or $50 with a concealed (隐藏的) 14-digit number that can be used to load the cash into an online account.

1. What does the word “They” in paragraph 1 refer to?

A．Sellers.	B．Buyers.
C．Teenagers.	D．Parents.

2. According to the passage, which of the following statements is TRUE?

A．More than half of the teenagers in the US and the UK have Internet access．

B．Teenagers pay for goods online with their own credit cards.

C．Most teenagers in the US and the UK have bought something online.

D．Teenagers found it easier to persuade parents to buy online than in a shop.

3. A new way to help teenagers shop online is to use _________.

A．a new machine	B．special coins and notes
C．prepaid cards	D．pay-as-you-go mobile phones

4. What is the passage mainly about?

A．Online shopping traps.	B．Internet users in the US and the UK.
C．New credit cards for parents.	D．The arrival of cyber pocket money.